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[Page 441]

HombergCity in the Schwalm-Eder district

Year

Number of
Residents

Number
of Jews

Percent
Jewish

1871

2,996

6

0.2

1880

3,551

11

0.3

1895

3,321

25

0.8

1905

3,596

37

1.0

1925

3,520

36

1.0

1933

3.912

32

0.8

Religious Affiliation by Percentage in 1925

Jews

Catholics

Protestants

Others

1.0

3.6

93.6

1.8

From the History of the Community

In 1636, coppersmiths complained about Jewish peddlers who were selling copperware in Homberg and its environs.

In Homberg itself, the first Jew was noted in 1679.

In the first half of the 19th century, the few Jews of Homberg belonged to the kehillah of Valkenberg (see article). In 1853 the council of the community published an appeal to support a Jew of Homberg who was ailing. In 1861 Jews did not live in Homberg, and in 1866 a few families settled there  merchants, livestock dealers, and middlemen in immovable properties  most of them buildings. In 1909, the Jews of Homberg were recognized as an independent kehillah, and already, a year earlier, the school was transferred from Valkenberg to Homberg. In 1913, 12 students studied there, but in 1918-19, four or five students remained, and the school was closed. At that same time, finally, a Jewish cemetery was opened within the boundaries of a Christian burial-ground. Communal prayer took place in a prayer hall in a private home.

In 1900, a Jew from Homberg, when the church bells were rung, announced, Now the cattle are coming in. He was sentenced to a week of imprisonment.

In World War I, two from the community fell. In 1933 there were six Jewish families in Homberg. Two heads of households were textile merchants, one was a junk dealer, one a middleman in land, and one, a male nurse. The community had a cemetery and had established kosher slaughter. Prayer took place in a private home. Four children learned religious studies. The community belonged to the rabbinic region of Kassel. At its head was Robert Katz

In the elections of Sept. 14, 1930 to the Reichstag, the Nazis received 31.5% of the residents' votes (compared to 20.8% in all of Hesse-Nassau and the 32.7% that the Social Democrats received). On July 31, 1932, the Nazis went up to 55.7% (43.6% in Hesse-Nassau), the Social Democrats decreased to 26%.

Under Nazi Rule

In 1934, an attorney who was a member of the Nazi Party refused to defend Jewish clients, and the residents of Homberg did not view this deed kindly. In the years 1933-1938 most of the Jews left Homberg and the holy objects were transferred to Kassel. Five of Homberg's Jews emigrated: to the U.S. (4) and to England (1). Twenty moved to other places in Germany, five died in Homberg, and two others were expelled during World War II to Theresienstadt and the Minsk Ghetto, and they perished.